Summer Appointment TV: Wipeout and So You Think You Can Dance

So, this is parts two and three of that week-long series. It was a busy day yesterday, so instead you get two posts combined into one here. Huzzah? Anyway, the two shows being chronicled today are my two must-watch reality shows of the summer, that sadly air at the same time as one another. Thank god I don’t live in the age where there was only the chance to watch things on the television when they aired. Or, (shudder), when there were only three channels. God bless those old fogeys for putting up with that.

Wipeout

Pound for pound, I know of no funnier on all of television. And I do mean “pound for pound,” because the whole insane, amazing, always watchable pleasure of this show is people falling down in the funniest ways possible. Seriously, that’s the whole conceit of the show “lets make people attempt and fail to do obstacles that will result only in the funniest spills ever.” And by the gods of slapstick, they’ve done exactly what they set out to do.

Seriously, the obstacles on this show are just insane. There’s always the big balls, because NO ONE can do them. But as if they weren’t entertaining enough, they’ve added a giant motivator that swings at you and knocks you into the big balls if you wait too long. And it’s oh so glorious.



But there’s just so much more too. The giant air bag that they have to race each other across (where if someone jumps on when you’re already on there, you’ll likely go flying), the Hurt-les, which seem to be timed to inflict the most comical pain as possible, the crazy sweeper, which is just insane, and so many more. Sure, the laughs may all be 100% juvenile (I mean, it’s people falling down in funny ways), but don’t all of us have a kid somewhere inside? Oh you don’t? Fine, Scrooge, leave me to my Wipeout while you go watch you Masterpiece Theater. I don’t care. I’ll just keep watching and laughing my hind quarters off at things like this:



Or this:



Seriously, the laughs just don’t stop.

So You Think You Can Dance

So transitioning from the moronic yet amazing to the simply just amazing, So You Think You Can Dance is my third appointment show of the summer. If you’ve read this blog, you know what a big role SYTYCD plays. In fact, you likely found this blog because of it. And it’s not just because people liked my Dance recaps (You like them! You really like them!), it’s because SYTYCD is pretty much the best of the talent competition shows out there, and is steadily and surely closing in on Amazing Race as my pick of the best reality show out there period.

And that’s because these people are all bonkers talented. Which is not to say that the people on Idol aren’t. But, as a batting average type of thing, SYTYCD blows Idol out of the water talent-wise. Every member of the top 20 is wildly talented in at least some way (or at least nearly every member, cough cough Tony). Dance is also just more captivating to watch than singing, it’s about motion, which is critical in any sort of moving visual medium. It’s broad ranging, exposing different styles of dance that would not get seen on the other inferior dancing shows.

Plus, no discussion of SYTYCD’s greatness would be complete without mentioning Ms. Cat Deeley, the hostest with the mostest who was ROBBED of an Emmy last year and hopefully will not suffer the same mistake this year. She is pretty much perfect, caring when she needs to be, fun when she needs to be, cute as a button, often fashionable or at least entertaining in her faux pas. She is everything that the show needs, and much more charismatic and likeable than Ryan Seacrest. She holds the show together.


So, that was yesterday and today’s heaping dose of my opinion on what you may sorely be missing out on this summer. Love these shows? Think I’m an idiot for loving these shows? Dance fans, insulted that I included the show with Wipeout? Even after seeing those clips? Well, then comment!